The main task of Insight is to study the earthquake and internal activities inside Mars, such as Mars, and measure the temperature at a depth of 3-5 meters. Previous probes, such as Phoenix, used the technology that Phoenix successfully landed on Mars in 2008, but the mission was completely different. Phoenix's main task is to find out whether there are signs of life in the Martian Arctic soil, and to study the shallow groundwater ice and climate in the Martian polar region. Curiosity's main tasks are to detect the climate and geology of Mars, whether the environment of Gael Crater may support the existence of life, and the composition of water on Mars. Opportunity's mission is to make a lot of geological analysis and surface description of Martian rocks. The mission of Spirit is to detect whether there is water and life on Mars, analyze its material composition and evaluate whether the environment on Mars is conducive to life. The main task of the Mars Pathfinder is to analyze the atmosphere, climate, geology and the composition of rocks and soil on Mars.
Insight Insight is a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of Mars. The mission was launched at 201May 5, 8 19:05 Beijing time. Beijing time1October 27th at 201813: 52: 59, Insight traveled nearly 300 million miles (458 million kilometers) in space, and the lander finally landed in Elysium Planitia on the surface of Mars, where it will be deployed. It will also carry out a series of radio science experiments to supplement the research on the internal structure and rotation of Mars.
Open the camera in the instrument environment (the first photo of Mars), figure: NASA /JPL- California Institute of Technology.
The instrument is unfolded with the camera turned on, as shown in the figure: NASA /JPL- California Institute of Technology.
This mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The lander was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The name is abbreviated as "InSight", which uses seismic survey, geodesy and internal exploration of heat transfer.
The goal of Insight is to place a fixed lander named SEIS seismograph produced by CNES, the French space agency, and measure the heat transfer with HP3 thermal detector produced by DLR, the German space agency, in order to study the early geological evolution of the planet. This may bring terrestrial planets in the solar system? Like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars? And a new understanding of the moon. In the final proposal of 20 12, the cost and risk of Insight were minimized by reusing the technology when Phoenix landed on Mars successfully in 2008.
The lander was originally planned to be launched in March 20 16. However, before the launch, the SEIS instrument experienced continuous vacuum failure and missed the March launch window of 20 16, so Insight was sent back to Lockheed in Denver, Colorado. Martin's factory for storage. In March of 20 16, NASA officially decided to postpone the launch of Insight to May of 20 18 at a cost of about1500,000 US dollars. This extra time also solved some problems of seismometer, but its total cost increased from $675 million to $830 million.
The picture taken by the artist of the Phoenix lander landing is similar to that of Insight landing. Photo: NASA /JPL/ Colby Waste
The design of this mission is based on the design of the Phoenix Mars lander in 2008. Because Insight is powered by solar panels, it will land near the equator of Mars to achieve maximum power and its life span can reach two years (1 Mars year). The mission also includes two relay microsatellites named Mars Cube 1, which were launched together with Insight and flew to Mars together with Insight.
A photo of the Insight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Image source: NASA /JPL California Institute of Technology.
"Historical Insight" was originally called GEMS (Geophysical Monitoring Station), but its name was changed at the request of NASA in early 20 12. Among the 28 proposals in 20 10, it is one of the finalists of three exploration plans that received $3 million in May 2010 to carry out detailed conceptual research. August 20 12, Insight was selected and used for development and release. Insight is officially managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and scientists from many countries are involved. The cost of the mission is limited to $425 million, but this does not include the cost of the launch vehicle.
Lockheed? Martin Company began to build the lander on May 9, 20 14, and began the comprehensive test on May 27, 20 15.
The seismograph provided by CNES is called internal structure seismic test (SEIS). Due to the continuous vacuum leakage of SEIS, NASA postponed the planned launch date from March 20 16 to May 20 18. When Insight was delayed, the rest of the spacecraft was sent back to Lockheed Martin. The Colorado factory was used for storage, and Atlas V, which was used to launch spacecraft, was reassigned to the launch mission of WorldView-4.
On March 9, 20 16, NASA officially announced that the launch window of Insight will be postponed to 20 18 years, and the estimated cost is1500,000 US dollars. The launch time of the spacecraft has been rescheduled to May 5, 20 18, and it is planned to enter the atmosphere of Mars and land on the surface of Mars at 3 am on October 27, 20 18, Beijing time. After the launch of the Qingtianshen 5 carrier rocket in vandenberg air force base, California, its flight plan will remain unchanged. The mission of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is to redesign and build a new vacuum enclosure for SEIS instruments, while CNES carries out instrument integration and testing.
20/KOOC-0/7/KOOC-0/65438+Insight completed the thermal vacuum test, also known as TVAC test, on October 22nd, 2065, in which the spacecraft will be placed under the simulated space conditions of decompression and various thermal loads. 2065438+2008123 October, 65438+2008, after long-term storage, its solar panels were tested again, and a silicon wafer with a name of 1.6 million was added to the lander.
The chip with 654.38+0.6 million signature was installed on the detector on October 23rd, 2065.438+08.65438/kloc-0. Photo: NASA /JPL California Institute of Technology/Lockheed Martin
On February 28th, 20 18, Insight was transported by C- 17 freighter from Lockheed Martin Space Systems Building in Denver to vandenberg air force base, California, in order to be integrated with the launch vehicle. The lander was launched on May 5, 20 18, and arrived at Mars at around 03: 52 on October 27, 20 18/Beijing time.